Cloth-expander.



W. P. ANTHONY.

CLOTH EXPANDER.

' Patented 11111613, 1916.

aan srarnse rarnnfr ernten.

WENDELL P. ANTHONY, OF RIDLEY PARK, IPENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE EDDY-STONE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A COR-PORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CLOTH-EXPANDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 13, 1916.

To (/.ZZ whom t may concern Be it known that I, lNimnnnr. P. AN'-trHoNr, a. citizen of the United States, and resident of Ridley Park,Delaware county, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Cloth- Expanders, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to cloth expanders which are used in apparatus forexpanding or stretching a web of cloth in the direction of its width.

The expander is usually built up of a plurality of interlocking rollerswhich are rotatably supported by a. curved bar or rod mounted in theframe of the machine. Numerous devices have been employed to lubricatethe bearing surfaces between the rollers and the curved rod but most ofthem have been found to be unsatisfactory.

The principal object of my invention therefore is to generally improvethe construction of cloth expanders so that they will be properlylubricated, and so that the lubricant used will not escape from theexpander and onto the goods.

The above and other objects and the novel features of my invention willbe apparent from the following` description taken in connection with thedrawing, in which,

Figure 1 isa side elevation of a cloth expander embodying my invention;Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of one end of the expander showingparts in section; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of one end ofanother expander embodying my invention, parts thereof being shown insection.

The complete expander as illustrated in llig. 1 is employed in a machinefor stretch ing or spreading a web of cloth or other similar materialtransversely of its length. The expander comprises a curved bar 10 whichhas a plurality of corrugated or toothed rollers or cylindricalexpander. sections 11 strung thereon and disposed intermediate the ends12 and 13 of the bar. The ends 12 and 13 are suitably supported in theframe of a machine. The rollers 11 thereof may or may not be providedwith interlocking means so that they may rotate together orindependently as desired. The bar 10 is round or circular in crosssection and has a central passageway 14 extending longitudinally thereoffrom end to end. The

pressure grease cups 15 and 16 are secured to the oppositeends of thebar 10 in a positlon so that their outlets will feed into the passageway14. At intervals along the part of the bar 10 which supports the rollers11 there are lateral passageways 17 which deliver the grease orlubricant from the central or main passageway 14e to the outer bearingsurface 18 of the bar 10.

In order to confine the lubricant to the bearing surface 18 I provide a.flexible spiral metal tube 19 which surrounds the portion of the bar 10which carries the rollers 11. The ends of the spiral tube 19 extend intorecesses 2O in the cup-shaped collars 21 which are carried loosely onthe bar 10 and are prevented from moving longitudinally of the bar bycollars 22 keyed to the bar by the set screw 23. The recesses 20 may besuitably packed to prevent the escape of the lubricant at that point.The rollers 11 are fixed to the spiral tube 19 and rotate therewithabout the bar 10. The spiral tube 19 is oil-tight and will prevent theescape of the lubricant from the bearing surface 18. The tube 19 beingmade .in the form of a spiral has grooves extending spirally thereofwhich will feed the lubricant issuing from the passageways 17,longitudinally of the bar 10 and cover and properly lubricate thebearing surfaces.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a slightly different form of the inventionin which the curved bars for supporting the rollers are made of heavytubing 24 and provided with lateral distributing outlets 25 at intervalsin the length thereof. The construction of that device is otherwise thesame as the one shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The construction shown in Fig. 3has `the advantage that the central passageway E26 thereof is alreadyprovided for in the tubular body and is therefore a more inexpensiveconstruction than the expander shown in Fig. 2.

The operation of the device will be undei-stood from the foregoingdescription. The compression grease cups at the ends of the tubes willforce the lubricant into the central passageway and out to the bearingsurfaces through the lateral passageways. The flexible tubing beingoil-tight will not permit the lubricant to get into contact with thegoods and yet on account of its spiral construction will carry ordistribute the lubricant throughout the length of the bearing surface ofthe bar.

While I have shown and described the embodiment of my invention indetail I do not wish to kbe limited to the exact constructionsillustrated as it is evident that they may be varied without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.l

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Let ters Patent is: Y

l. A cloth expander comprising the com- Y bination of afixed supportingmember, a

llexible cil-tight tube fitting said member and rotatable thereon, meansfor feeding a lubricantV to theV bearingv surface of said sup.- portingmember, and a plurality of cylindrical expander sections mounted on saidtube. i Y

2. A cloth expander comprising the combination of a supporting memberhaving a bearing surface, cloth expanding means rotatably mounted onsaid member, means for delivering lubricant to said bearing surface, andmeans for distributing the lubricant over said bearing surface and forconfining the lubricant to said bearingsurfaces 3. A cloth expandercomprising a curved supporting member having apassageway extending`longitudinally thereof from end to end and lateral outlets from saidpassageway to the supporting surface of said member, a i'exibleoil-tight tube fitting the bearing surface of said member, and clothexpanding means carried by said Yflexible tube androtatable'therevvithLl. A clothexpander comprising the combination ofV a fixed tubular curvedmember having lateral outlets from the interior thereof to the bearingsurface of said member, means at the ends of said member capableofdelivering a lubricant to the interiorv thereof and through said lateraloutlets to the bearing surface, a spiral flexible tube iittingsaidmember and covering the bearing surface thereof, said spiral tube beingadapted to distribute the lubricant over the bear-V ing surfaceof saidmember, means for limit- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ingthe longitudinal movement of said tube, y and a plurality of expandersections carried by said flexible tube. Y

5. A cloth expander comprising'V the combination of rotatable clothexpanding means, a supporting member therefor having a longitudinallyextending oil conduit provided with outlets at points along the outerbearing surface thereof, and an oil-tight tube carryingV said clothexpanding means andV the latter and adapted to `confine the lubricant tothe bearing surface thereof, and cloth expanding means mounted on saidtubular member and rotatable with the lat-4 ter on the supportingmember.

7. The combination `with Va supporting member having a bearing surface,of means for delivering lubricant to said bearing surface, and means fordistributing the lubricant along the bearing surface and also confiningthe lubricant to the bearingl surface,

comprising a lubricant-tight tube surrounding said supporting member'and provided with a spiral groove next to the bearing surface and meansclosing theends of the tube and adapted to contain packing material.V

YIn testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WENDELL ANTHONY.

Witnesses l l C. C. J'RGENSEN,

y yBENJ. WEIR, Jr.'

tive' cents `each, by addressing the Commissioner at Patents. YWashington, 11G. Y

